torture at its finest
by Wandering princess
Summary: "Because isn't that the best torture?" The witch said "To witness how perfect life could have been only to realize its not really the reality you live in?"


**An: late submission for Klaroweek, I hope you guys like it**

 **Torture at its finest**

The first thing he heard was the sound of a baby giggling, opening his eyes to find himself in a familiar-but-unfamiliar room, with the dainty arm of a blonde he recognized too well sleepily slung over him, her golden hair fanned out over his chest as she used him for a pillow, smiling contently as tough sleeping with a psychotic killer was something she enjoyed "Caroline?" Klaus whispered trying to hide the shock in his voice, if this was a dream, it was a very realistic one, not even the spirits could recreate the scent of post-sex Caroline in this very exact way, her body warped around him felt real, as did the feeling of satisfied muscle exercise that he knew came after a particularly good romp in the sheets

Veronica's childlike voice seemed to echo in his head for a moment _"it's addicting to be there, more so when you know it's real"_ he remembered her saying as she issued one final warning

He hadn't been in this world for five minutes and he could already understand why.

"Mmmm good morning" Caroline sighed smiling lazily, stretching her limbs like he knew she did after a restful night, propping her face on her hand she stared at him with so much warmth in her gaze he had to swallow before looking away "Guess who just woke up completely in love with you?" She asked sleepily

And Klaus looked at her, lost in her loving eyes, he'd dreamed of having her look at him that way for months, the stare she reserved for people she actually cherished, like Tyler or her mother, now she was looking at him that way and he couldn't help but lean in for a kiss "I don't know love? Who?"

"Mmm that's easy to answer" Caroline whispered kissing him, apparently finding his eager morning demeanor funny, tangling her fingers in his hair and moaning, pulling him down to her like a thirsty woman starved for blood then, with a giggle she jumped out of bed, grabbing one of his Henleys and slipping it on "Why your daughter of course, don't you hear her awake in the nursery, Athena might be nine months but Klaus I swear she has your impatient personality already"

"Tease" was all he managed to shout as she skipped out of the door, in what he assumed was the giggling child's direction. Again he was struck with another difference from his world and this one…here he hadn't seen the need to name his daughter Hope, here she actually slept in the next room as was apparently named after the Greek goddess of wisdom and warfare, it was a fitting name he supposed, given she was his firstborn, but he knew it was probably more than that.

And walking around the house he saw he was right, a quick exploring of the manor on bourbon street was enough to send him into quite a few more startling revelations, for instance, the basement was not a dungeon, in fact it looked more like a high technology version of the MI7 quarters, with enough surveillance monitors to make the Pentagon look cheap, they…or he, the alternate version of him that is, had eyes everywhere, from there he could practically see every inch of New Orleans and the world if the commands on the computer panel where to be believed.

There where well disguised witch amulets all over the house and even discreet painted over pentagrams on Hop-Athena's nursery, in fact he saw signs of protection magic all over the house, that added to the high technology security gadgets he discovered drenched with vervain and the house looked to be a weapon in and on itself that could fry any foe that even though of harming it's residents.

The decor of the house also told him a story, from the room at the far end of the house with the closet filled suits and designer dresses to his studio, where half painted canvases held lighter colors that he was used to.

In the walls, there was art, mostly paintings of Caroline, Athena and his siblings, with their presumptive significant others, but also of the city, of simple everyday objects and tasteful abstracts, that intermingled with a mirad of framed pictures and pictures collages, depicting a life he'd never lived, but so desperately wished he had.

There was a picture wall in the center of the living room hall, littered with frames of different moments in time, one was of Caroline holding a camera, and another of Finn with an arm around Sage's smiling with a very happy him in a party, then there was one of Rebekah with Caroline and him in what appeared to be Monte Carlo, and Elijah looking as suited up as ever dancing with non-murderous-looking Katherine in the eighties, the wall seemed to be a chronicle of good memories, Katherine featured with him in more than one, appearing to be, if not friends with him then good acquaintances, from black and white photos to full color, there was a story in every picture, Kol with a coven of witches, Elijah and Rebekah shaking hands with Princess Diana, Klaus, Finn and Stefan holding on to Rebekah's shopping bags in the nineties (that one he had a feeling had been Kol's doing).

Another featured Finn, Elijah and Sage standing next to the construction of what would be the Empire State Building, Klaus and Katherine mischievously looking at a fallen Berlin wall, Sage and Rebekah with Siberian wolves in Iceland, Elijah and Kol photographed with more covens of witches, Katherine with her hair in hot rollers while Kol laughed in the distance was a particular favorite of his, as was the enormous collection of Klaus-Caroline pictures that hung above the fireplace.

this made the selection of his daughter's name click, he was right to assume it was more than a change of mind on his part, in this world, he ruled the supernatural (or at least seemed to), he had no need to name his child Hope because he didn't need such thing, he didn't have to worry about enemies or witches or Mikael.

Here the Klaus Mikaelson of this world would have given his child a name that bespoke of pride and power, not hope, unlike him, the people in this world had enough light, so he'd named Hope after something to surpass a queen, he named her after a goddess, Athena was a regal name, patroness of wisdom and strategic war.

"Look Athena, here is daddy, say good morning to your big bad daddy little princess" Caroline cooed coming to stand in the living room's doorway with baby Athena in her arms.

The image she created was so powerful it made him want to scream, there she was, the woman of his dreams, the girl he promised he would be her last love, standing with his daughter in her arms, dressed in only his shirt, both looking tussled but smiling, she was holding Athena in a protective way, bouncing and rocking her while she came to join Klaus, who automatically held out his arms for the child "Who are you calling big bad sweetheart, I'll have you know I'm not so terrible" he playfully growled making Athena gurgle

"Yeah right" Caroline snorted then she suddenly perked up "Don't move Klaus stay just like that" and retrieving a Polaroid camera from the table near them she positioned it right above their heads "Say Caroline-Athena-and-Klaus-have-killer-style" she commanded before taking the picture making Klaus smirk in just the right moment, the picture slid out the camera and Caroline grinned leaning in to kiss his lips "This one is perfect"

And with that she flashed to the wall where the collection of Klaus-Caroline pictures and removing the glass of one of the collages she pasted the new Polaroid inside "beautiful as always love" was all Klaus thought to say, because there it was, Caroline, Athena and him, looking very much like a young family and she was right, it was perfect

Caroline nodded satisfied, slipping an arm around him, enjoying the moment of staring a the picture wall, Athena gurgled happily in his arms and Klaus tried not to move, afraid to break the spell, scanning each and every picture, committing to memory the many moments there

Sadly the moment ended with the banging of Kol's fist on the door "Dammit Nik open up, we already gave you enough private time last night to leave Caroline limping" he bellowed

"Good thing Athena's nursery has a permanent silencing spell on the walls, if I'd known you would keep the entire town awake with your sex screams I would have taken my niece with me to Oxfordshire" Rebekah's voice joined Kol's "invite us in already you wanker"

"And that's your family, creepily commenting on our sex life again" Caroline said face palming

"You should put on a robe love, as much as I enjoy the view I'd rather not let Kol do the same" Klaus replied smirking, leave it to Kol and Rebekah to ruin it all

"Like you shirtless and holding a baby isn't distracting already for me" Caroline muttered to herself flashing upstairs, he wanted to run after her but alas the banging in the door

"Come on open up, before Kat and Lijah get here and subject us to another one of their talks that go along the lines of Let-Niklaus-have-all-the-sex-he-wants-because-he's-our-family-favorite" Kol begged while Rebekah made angry sounds

"Good morning to you too brother, sister" Klaus said inviting them in, apparently this house was so well protected even previously invited vampires needed permission to enter, he liked it, he liked it too much.

"Really Nik? Shirtless and unshowered? Still trying to prove I'm not the most handsome Mikaelson huh?" Kol said in good nature, coming inside and patting him in the back, offering baby Athena a toy. If seeing Kol alive and smirking was doing a number on his insides, realizing that in this world they got along well, made him once again regret not doing more to keep Kol alive, as did the loving hug his sister gave him before heading to the kitchen.

"Oh Nik I have so much to tell you from my trip to Haiti, the voodoo witches there were so strong I had to bring a couple to join our personal coven here in New Orleans, I hope you don't mind" Rebekah remarked sitting in a stool in the kitchen, chatting away about supernatural names and dates, never once mentioning boys or infatuations "And I said: If your wolf pack is so strong then the moon spell won't hurt and the alpha was arrogant enough to fall for it, then they all died in front of him minutes later, but come on, its not like he didn't see it coming for daring to defy us in the first place"

From what he learned in his brief conversation with Rebekah, she didn't live in New Orleans anymore than she lived anywhere else, her "job" as she seemed to be describing it, was sniffing out rebellions from wolves and witches all over the world, which made for a very glamorous but nomadic lifestyle

This version of Rebekah was what one would call a (murderous and highly dangerous) "free spirit", coming and going as she pleased, chasing her personal wanderlust

"Bekah shut up, Nik is obviously bored by your chatter, really, and do you do anything other than travel to magical hotspots?" Kol snorted "here spend time with Athena, she probably missed her only aunt" taking the baby from Klaus without any fear of ripped out livers he handed the child to Rebekah and smirked " Nik and I need to have a man talk"

"Whatever Kol, I'm just waiting for the cook and maids to start up, oh look sounds like the skeleton crew is here" she said as she read a text from the security Hybrid outside "I'll be upstairs with Caroline, and Nik for Odin's sake put on a shirt before Kat and Lijah get here, it's distracting for the maids" she complained before flashing out of sight with Athena

Klaus rolled his eyes hearing Caroline lightly joke with Rebekah about his abs, changing into jeans and a clean Henley before returning to the kitchen to chat with Kol, the conversation alternating between playful innuendos about their family and talk of spells and witches.

Klaus could hear maids arriving, quiet vampires slowly filling the house to take places in the control rooms and starting up breakfast, it was strange how calm he felt about it, Kol oblivious as he was when Klaus probed for information "he" supposedly already knew, told him everything he wanted to know about his family here

This was how he learned more about this world and how different it was from his.

Every Mikaelson had a place in his rule apparently, the other Klaus unlike him, believed that giving his siblings huge tasks to keep them reasonably occupied was a better way to punish them as opposed to daggering them every do often. It worked, quite spectacularly if he was honest. It turns out that the busiest he kept his brothers and sister, the more they felt Klaus "needed" them and as such, they no longer plotted against him.

Kol worked as some sort of witch liaison, not their leader per se, but his charm with witches enabled Klaus to have hold on the most powerful covens in the world, sometime in the thirties instead of daggering Kol for screwing up, the other Klaus had auctioned off his psychotic brother as a guinea pig to a horde of angry witches.

After that adventure, Kol took a liking to the spell making process, and to the witches brave enough to experiment with magic (In the name of the Mikaelson house of course). The result was that Kol now was a veritable grimoire of new and ancient spells, he might not have magic, but he sponsored the rise of those who did, most of his witches often created spells and curses that only blood from the Mikaelson family could undo..and that was very useful

Finn according to Kol, was more of a human enthusiast, being the one daggered the longest he'd kept most of his humanity and as the elder brother thought it was his job to ensure that the "abominations" his family kept turning didn't kill off the human race, honestly with the overall overpopulation in humans, that was a laughable possibility but it was good to have word on the streets about Finn's existence, since he did his best to control whenever some "crazy" decided to flip the switch and go on mass murder sprees, (because honestly only HIS family was allowed to cause massacres) also it worked on Klaus's favor to keep him unddaggered, because one could never have too many vampires afraid of a Mikaelson sibling.

This way was how Finn found his long lost love Sage, which was ironic since Sage at the time had been one of said "crazies" (causing mayhem with Damon Salvatore of all people) and even with her humanity on she remained every bit the serial killer Finn tried not to be, but Sage found Finn's devotion to his cause endearing and had stuck at his "grumpy" side ever since.

Then there was Elijah and Katerina, who Kol referred to as "a reverse Esther and Mikael".

And this was when Klaus understood the crucial point in his life where the other Klaus's world diverged from his own.

 _It all came back to the bloody doppelganger_

Because while in his world he'd chased Katerina for five hundred years in the name of revenge, in this world…he had not

 _Because Elijah asked him to._

(Probably fought and tried to dagger him if what Kol insinuated was correct) ha, five hundred years and the only difference was that in this world he'd been smart enough to work WITH Katerina Petrova and not against her.

In minutes he understood the implications of joining forces with her, of course this world was better, he'd had his mayor foe on his side. With no Katherine Pierce to stir trouble, how many catastrophes could he had avoided?

The answer stared at him from all places in this strange world

Kol who seemed thrilled to be given so much one on one time with Klaus (He got the feeling that his time usually was dedicated entirely to Caroline and very little to his siblings) proceeded to recount how Klaus had given Katerina a tentative pardon because of Elijah after she ran away from the sacrifice and after proving herself loyal, he'd allowed her to remain at their eldest brother's side...Eventually giving Elijah leave to actually marry the troublemaking chit.

Katerina loved Elijah that was for sure but it was evident from Kol's face that Elijah's five hundred years of marriage hadn't come without facing some rough patches on both sides over the years. Katerina was someone too volatile even with Elijah to temper her and Elijah was a little too cool and collected to admit he was wrong on occasions.

When they got into arguments It reminded the Mikaelson siblings of the relationship between Esther and Mikael, only with their genders reversed…Katherine usually raged and screamed while Elijah took it all coolly before delivering passive-aggressive jabs that angered her more…

"Come to think of it you started sending us away on power-hungry errands when those two started having their first newlywed fights" Kol said as tough he finally understood something, and the scary part was that Klaus understood too, and he could see Katherine going as far as Mikael went for Esther if someone ever killed Elijah.

He supposed this was why even Rebekah resorted to having a more conservative style of relationships in this world, with their elder brother as a shining example of the ups and downs having an eternal lover could bring, the rest of the Mikaelson siblings had naturally taken to trying to avoid romance.

Not that marriage was a bad thing, Katerina actually did provide a good addition to the family, but the amount of commitment that took to keep their relationship in the good place it always was, was something the siblings all bore witness to over the past five hundred years.

As it was, in Klaus "Kingdom" between Elijah and Katerina, anything that had to do with information and war was handled excellently.

Katherine apparently had her very own web of spies of all species spanning over the globe, all ready to report back with news of treats, good omens and dark publicity, the world was a market of gossip and secrets that could be siphoned out of anyone for the right price and in this world Katerina Mikaelson was always the highest bidder when it came to sell.

Elijah in turn handled what Kol called the Mikaelson "personal army", which basically meant he recruited and trained any vampire, wolf or witch that wanted to fight for Klaus if there was ever a war.

"Honestly Nik I know you are worried that the witches will make me forget where my true loyalties are, but there's no need to quiz me on our family history" Kol said playfully before sobering up and looking at Klaus with a very mature expression "You know I will never betray you brother"

"I do, and I am sorry for doubting you" was all Klaus replied patting Kol's arm calmly "I just felt the need to reminiscence with you, that's all, these days I barely see you" if only Kol knew how true his words where, Klaus missed Kol terribly and he'd never told him how much he meant as a brother

"Not by fault of my own Nik, although if a girl like Caroline ever shows up in my doorstep with a confession as dramatic as hers, I might be tempted to do just as you have" Kol snorted accepting the apology

"She really is something isn't she?" Klaus whistled satisfied, remembering her beautiful face after waking up "I don't deserve her"

"We all know you don't but that won't stop Kat from badgering you about when you plan to make Caroline a honest woman and proclaim her your Queen"

"Elijah needs to keep his wife in check then, Katherine..na should mind her own business" Klaus replied wincing at the fact he almost called her Katherine instead of Katerina which seemed to be the name she went by these days

"Ha, don't count on that, Elijah always lets Katerina play matchmaker out of spite, you of all should know that watching her fail to pair us up is his favorite form of entertainment"

"Somebody mentioned my name?" A annoying voice he'd come to associate with the need to rip apart things sang from the door "Rebekah, Caroline, come down to invite us in" Katherine said as calmly as possible

"Aaaaand here they are, just in time for brunch" Kol snorted mockingly then he leaned into Klaus's side whispering "I swear it's like Kat knows whenever we are talk about her"

"Maybe I do" Katherine said mischievously appearing in the kitchen, followed closely by Elijah, they looked different from their counterparts in Klaus's world, Katherine had short hair for one, short brown locks styled in a way that gave her freedom to move better if she was ever attacked, this Katherine looked too old for her body's age, seemed calmer, and much more deadly (if such thing was possible). She came to stand in front of him and it took all the restraint he had not to flinch or try to snap her neck when she gave him a kiss on the cheek as a greeting "Thank you for the gift you sent us yesterday Klaus, you really didn't have to"

And Elijah was dressed in a much more relaxed way, not in a suit, but rather a black turtle neck with dark pants, he looked at Klaus and smiled warmly "I really did not expect you to care about that building renovation either and it was a nice detail to send that marble plaque"

"There is no need to thank me" Klaus replied trying to keep himself calm, knowing he had to bluff himself out of the situation "I only did what I thought was best"

"He's being modest as always" Caroline exclaimed appearing in the doorway sporting the sunniest smile in the world "Cook has the food ready by the way, come on to the dining room guys, Rebekah is already there"

Good to know that the servants had a separate kitchen Klaus thought absentmindedly, he watched Elijah offer Katherine his arm and when Caroline sent him a puzzled look, he hurriedly did the same, Katherine with her other arm practically forced Kol's arm out of its socket while dragging him to the dining room too.

"You are quiet today big bad" Caroline remarked leaning into his arm for comfort "is something wrong?"

Distracted by the feel of her body so close to him he shook his head "Nothing terribly important"

"Good, I wouldn't want some evil plot or other ruin our weekly get together with your family, especially considering today's date" she said smiling her sunniest most seductive smile

Klaus floundered in his mind, racking his brain for a way to talk himself out of having to guess what was so important about that day that exited his blond muse so much, instinctively hating anything that came close to causing her sadness or any type of disappointment

Lucky for him his sister's pathological need to be the center of attention saved the day "Ahh yes, the infamous "first kiss" anniversary, I swear Caro not even Sage and Finn keep that much track of relationship milestones" Rebekah remarked trading a gurgling baby Athena to Kol's waiting arms

"It wasn't just a first kiss, it was the day I first realized that I wanted to be with Klaus, you could say it's the anniversary of my "aha" moment" Caroline brushed off rolling her eyes but taking Klaus's hand covertly under the table and squeezing it "even if it took a while"

"Yeah almost two years to be exact, if you'd made up your bloody mind sooner Nik's rebound tryst with the-she-wolf-who-shall-not-be-named wouldn't have lasted as long as it actually did" then looking at the brown haired baby in Kol's arms she quickly amended "no offense to your biological mother slash moody incubator, but one day you'll find out why we had to kill her off Athena teena" she cooed to the baby

"In my defense I had issues to deal with, but yeah ok I took too long" Caroline laughed at Rebekah's misery, surprising Klaus in the way she acted entirely at ease with his family, she seemed to fit so right, her light making such a beautiful contrast with everything else that Klaus knew he had to kiss her again

"But that just makes the moments we have together all the more enjoyable" Klaus whistled pulling Caroline's mouth to his and kissing her deeply, making her sigh in bliss before she had the good sense to push him away half heartedly "See, everyone deserves to wait a bit for perfection"

"Pooh Pooh" baby Athena gurgled blowing spittle bubbles at Kol

"I know Sweetcakes, it's disgusting for me too" Rebekah groaned rolling her eyes

"leave them be Rebekah, I'm sure one day you will fall in love too and wish to do the same with the poor unlucky man that earns your love" Katerina told her in a sing song voice taking a seat beside Elijah, who interwove his hand with hers and kissed their joined palm

Rebekah snorted "And end up like you lovesick idiots? No thanks, if anything I'm still traumatized thanks to the amount of PDA you all seem to favor so much" shuddering she poured herself a glass of wine laced blood "I'll never give my heart out to someone, not like that"

"Then you'll be depriving infatuated young men like Stefan Salvatore of a golden opportunity" Elijah remarked with a calm chuckle "he might be part of one of my marriage's hardest days but that's no excuse to leave the poor man waiting in the wings like that"

"Stefan is the exception to the rule" Rebekah muttered crossing her arms over her chest "but right now he's in Tibet alternating between training Nik's army of Rippers and running his new Hippie Vampire Retreat, we never seem to find time for each other" The original sister snapped "It's not my bloody fault"

"Oh I heard about that one, he's very enthusiastic about it, SRR is supposed to be quite the hotspot, stands for _Salvatore Rehab Resort_ right? He takes out of control vampires and teaches them to control their urges" Caroline sang clapping her hands in delight "last time we talked he seemed over the moon with the project"

"And how! Finn is so delighted with him that he now schemes to take him away from me" Elijah told Klaus as tough he'd had any say in anything the ripper did "Stefan Salvatore's military expertise is put in good use when he is at the training grounds, let Finn find another humanitarian to woo to his cause"

"Be careful Rebekah, it seems like you are no longer the only Mikaelson that wants Stefan" Kol joked howling with laughter at his own hilarious words making the rest of the table snort

The conversation continued much in the same vein, with the entire family talking and giving out opinions on the running of the supernatural community, their personal lives and environment in general. Klaus barely had to make a few comments to keep the thread going and even then he didn't need to say much. Quickly Klaus learned that the torrential list of enemies that he'd accumulated over the years in his own world, had either joined him or been killed off in this world so he sat back and smiled liking things here allot.

When brunch was over Rebekah and Kol said their goodbyes as did Elijah and Katerina who took Athena with them, (apparently having made previous plans to babysit for what Caroline called "their special day") leaving him alone with Caroline.

Caroline, bright, passionate and unafraid Caroline, a Caroline that didn't loathe him, who kissed him deeply, wanted him with all her heart and had no qualms about letting him know it. Klaus felt as though he'd been handed a gift and treated it as such.

"How do you fancy being in the ship of a Spanish queen today love?" Klaus asked smirking at her delighted shriek

"I'll go get my swimsuit big bad" she replied giving a military salute before kissing him again, this time a bit more deeply, letting her hands rove trough his hair and feeling him aggressively plunder her mouth for more "Are you sure we can't stay home all day instead?" She whispered husky and out of breath when they came up for air "preferably in bed, naked, having hot hybrid sex?...or in the Jacuzzi, I'm not picky"

Was she trying to kill him? Of course he wanted to comply with her, those words she uttered featured in most of his Caroline related fantasies and yet...so did having her in the deck of his favorite ship "No love, not yet anyway, today I want to paint you against the setting sun with the Atlantic Ocean as a backdrop"

"You and your art Klaus" she laughed "Sometimes I feel your artistic eye exagerates when it comes to me in real life"

"Never insult my artistic eyes love" he said seductively "they only capture the truth"

She flashed away for her beach bag then before he could reach out and kiss her again and thus that day Klaus flew them to the Spanish Riviera and took her sailing in a real life colonial ship (or the renovated, highly preserved and functional version of it anyway)

She'd never been in one of those (one of the few things the other Klaus had yet to show her) and she loved it, so did Klaus in hindsight, she was beautiful, she liked to banter with him and used sarcasm quite allot but unlike his version of Caroline, this one did it out of playful affection, not with any mean intent.

So he bantered back, he played the gallant king, seduced her with his charm, dined with her under the moonlight on the deck of a ship and promised her the moon as long as she kept smiling like that.

As the sun was setting he asked her to dance and feeling like a princess Caroline accepted, a new slow song began playing in the ship's deck making her smile as he spun her around.

She was wearing a stunning blue summer dress and flats, her neck and ears adorned in jewelry out of his own security vaults and her hair let lose fell like golden silk down her past her shoulders "Remember that day?" Caroline whispered with a wishful sigh "my high school graduation, you were leaving for New Orleans, I hated you so much and yet liked you at the same time, you were there giving me flowers and you gave me this great speech about how Tyler wasn't good enough for me, you said "I intend to be your last, however long it takes" and suddenly I thought "yeah I want you to be my last love too" it was crazy because dammit I didn't want to be attracted to the bad guy" Caroline confessed embarrassed "but you were leaving and leaning in to kiss me in the cheek, so I thought "oh what the heck, I'm falling for him already, I might as well kiss and run" and I did, I turned my cheek, but you surprised me because you kissed me first, I ran away after that, I know, but wow, was that a great kiss"

"Now I see why we are commemorating the event love" Klaus whispered back, saddened deeply by the fact he'd never lived through this version of her reality "I know I never stopped thinking about you after that day"

"You've been kissing me like that today you know" she remarked letting him pull her closer to him and inhaling his scent "you kiss so urgently, like you've never kissed me before, it reminds me of those days, I like it, sometimes I fear being taken for granted"

"That will never happen" and with those words he kissed her again, this time watching her eyes darken in desire and deciding not to hold back his own. Making love to her in open deck and not caring how wrong or right it was. Falling asleep to the scent of her in his arms

 _"Klaus, Mr Klaus, please you need to come back, did you find Mr Elijah?_ " Veronica's voice reached him abruptly jolting him awake to his own world once more, looking around for Caroline, the hybrid's first instinct was to flash in front of the gypsy girl and shake her violently

"WHY DID YOU DO THIS? SEND ME BACK!" He growled impatiently making Veronica cry, still not caring he stormed out of the library, leaving the girl sobbing on the ground as he went on a murderous rampage.

 _ **...24 hours before this...**_

Their newest witch threat had no mercy, that was for sure, she promised him the worst type of torture for Elijah and when they found him, in that cell down at the cemetery on the Bordeaux mausoleum, with only that small nondescript gypsy girl for company Klaus never realized how right Natsumi Chen could be

Because when Elijah woke up the next day he wasn't the same man he'd been when the witches ambushed him and tried to use him against Klaus.

It wasn't a very noticeable change, the eldest Original merely looked distracted, a bit quiet, not so quick to correct Klaus or hold him back when he flew into a rage. After Rebekah found him, he just seemed more withdrawn, one could even say, that as far as tortures went, he hadn't been subjected to much at all

But Klaus was wrong, he should have picked up the hint when Elijah insisted he not kill the little gypsy girl that Natsumi used to keep him down.

But then again the girl looked like she'd been kept a prisoner all her life too, thin, with fragile waif-like features, black hair and hollowed eye sockets, too pale and brittle looking to do anything but huddle back into her cell when the originals stormed in to rescue their eldest brother.

Elijah always fancied himself a savior, so Klaus thought nothing of it when he offered Veronica his personal protection.

The girl who apparently seemed to be expecting that, had tried refusing with all her might, looking at Elijah with sad dark eyes "Are you going to keep me a captive also Mr Elijah? Will you too, lock me away from the world?"

Klaus should have gotten the hint when his brother didn't answer; opting to offer Veronica his coat instead and promising her nobody would hurt her as long as she was under their protection…Elijah, the noble brother, who disliked lies, refused to answer when she asked about her freedom.

Veronica was a quiet girl, almost powerless and barely thirteen, yet no matter how much Rebekah needled their elder brother she never could get out of him what was it that the girl could do that made her so valuable to Natsumi.

Still it didn't stop Elijah from compelling an entire house for Veronica to have, along with live in teachers to home school her and some vampire staff to take care of her needs, under the pretext of owing her a debt he made sure that the little gypsy girl was as comfortable as he could make a human. Klaus himself didn't understand why Elijah took to visiting Veronica so much, since other than a few parlor tricks the girl seemed to be no more useful than the average circus gypsy, nevertheless he let it go, chalking it up to Elijah's knight in shining armor complex, because the only thing strange he noticed about his brother after his visits to Veronica's house were that he seemed to be getting more sleep than usual and that was nothing strange in his proper and boorish elder sibling.

Until one day she knocked on his door frantic "You can't let him keep doing this, it's killing him" she said as soon as she saw Klaus, running right into his study with tears in her eyes "Please I beg you, stop him"

Klaus was instantly alarmed, realizing that the gypsy girl had a small amulet in her hands "Stop what, is Elijah in danger?" he asked, his face instantly morphing into his hybrid face getting ready to fight

"being there is like a drug, you don't understand, the more he goes there the more he craves it, I've seen people go mad, Elijah is nice to me, please, I don't want to hurt him anymore, but it seems that the only thing I can do to make him happy is to send him back there again" she said crying now, breaking into sobs and making absolutely no sense, she was wearing jeans and a t-shirt with a bad name emblazoned on it clutching her amulet with all her might "he doesn't actually force me to use my gift but I know it's the only reason he kept you from killing me and I've never had a master who is kind to me, I can't let this thing kill him you have to help me"

With extraordinary patience Klaus waited until Veronica could talk again so he could safely ask her what the hell was so terrifying that she'd stormed into his mansion using a secret passage, ignoring her own safety and suicidally sobbing at his feet.

It was then when he learned that Veronica had a gift called "reality passing", she could see into another world, another version of the real world's current reality and when coupled with the amulet she was holding, she could send other people's conscious mind there too, as long as their alternate self was alive.

"It's a better version of this world, or at least it is for anyone in the supernatural community, more importantly it's a better version of Elijah's and your world, a place you never want to leave" Veronica explained with frantic movements of her hands "Don't you understand, I'm driving him mad, it's why Natsumi Chen had me, she used me to torture her victims" the gypsy girl cried "to be happy, incredibly happy, to know that its real and that you can't have it...that's the worst kind of torture there is"

She begged him to go to talk to Elijah, because he was the only one Elijah would actually listen to, to tell him he needed to stop using her reality passing, because she didn't want to use her gift anymore and Klaus, thinking himself above anything the other world could show him, forced her to send him to the other reality.

In the end his pride was his downfall

 _ **...24 hours later, present time...**_

"I can't send you back, it was a mistake to even do it on the first place" Veronica said cradling her bleeding arm "Elijah was fine because his alternate self doesn't lose consciousness when he's there, but you? You are the king of the place; do you really think the other Klaus didn't notice an entire day missing in his memory?" Then looking betrayed she glared at him "I told you to bring Elijah back, not to get sucked in, you said you were fine"

"I don't care about the morality of it, if my other self dies its fine by me; I want to return there, that world is better"

"But do you deserve to reap what another sowed? Does Elijah deserve it for the matter?" Veronica snapped angrily with tears marring her face "he gets to be in a world where the love of his life is ALIVE and wearing his ring, his family is as functional as he'd ever dreamed and you are happy, a place where he no longer has to be your substitute parent, but only because the other version of him choose to fight you when this version opted to follow your orders blindly"

"Are you saying that you would betray him? After he saved your life?, I thought you were in debt to him"

"I'm saying that the Elijah Mikaelson of that world has spent five hundred years building a good relationship with his wife, he's fought for her and clawed his way through dirt to get where he is, that Elijah actually deserves to have his reality"

"And I don't I deserve to be happy too? What's your excuse for me Veronica?"

"The Klaus Mikaelson of the other world would never break the arm of someone who hasn't done his bidding" Veronica shouted "he's benevolent and fair, he controls his anger, he's the kind of king I am happy to serve and the kind of man that a queen like Caroline Forbes could fall in love with, why should you get to live his reality?" Her arm was still bleeding and profusely yet she angered him so much with her words that he kept hitting her, yet Veronica refused to shut up "because I'll tell you what makes him better than you, the other Klaus, he actually let his loved ones have freedom, he wasn't a selfish brat...he put them first" And with that last shot Veronica gave him a blood sputtering smile looking behind him, to the face of a very angry Elijah and purposefully letting the last of Klaus's hits land on her chest..Stopping her heart completely

Realizing what he'd done Klaus let out a howl of rage "this is your entire fault" he growled throwing a vase at his elder brother

Elijah simply shrugged, looking at him with hateful and almost vacant eyes "I'm leaving New Orleans for some time Niklaus, now that you killed Veronica I feel I should move on" he announced abruptly, turning on his heel and ignoring the corpse of the gypsy girl he'd become so fond of

"Where are you going if I may be so bold to ask?"

"I'm going to Japan, to do something I should have done ages ago"

"What is that?"

"Resurrect Katherine Pierce" he replied without a backward glance

Klaus raised his eyes, watching Elijah's retreating back, before deciding that maybe, just maybe he'd take his example and right a few wrongs too.

 **An: like it? Hate it? Comment it**


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